BERLIN FOCUS

Chamber music and concertos

Finding revelations in the "empfindsam" style

For this multiannual project Ensemble Diderot puts the spotlight on the cosmopolitan German capital. As always, the four creative musicians wander far from the beaten track and want to draw a new picture of a musical landscape we all thought we knew, finding revelations in the so-called “empfindsam” style and exploring Berlin’s connections with Paris and Dresden. The focus, as at the inception in Berlin of the modern concert open to all, is on rediscovering forgotten treasures and the pure enjoyment of listening.

Several recordings, a multi-media project and numerous concert programmes reflect the splendour and elegance of the Berlin School and allow the French ensemble to show itself once again as a passionate innovator and storyteller.

Ensemble Diderot at the Brandenburg Gate

Concert programmes

Ensemble Diderot - Crédit - Edouard Brane-15.jpg

Trio Sonatas from Berlin

PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS:
The Art of Dialogue

Johann Gottlieb Graun

Trio sonata in G Major “Melancholicus & Sanguineus”

Johann Philipp Kirnberger

Trio sonata in D Minor

Jean-Marie Leclair

Trio sonata in D Minor, Op. 4, N. 1

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Trio sonata in C Major (BWV 1037)

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Johann Gottlieb Graun

Trio sonata in A Major, GWV Av:XV:41

Johann Abraham Peter Schulz

Trio sonata in A Minor

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Trio sonata in C Minor “Sanguineus & Melancholicus”

Concertos from Berlin

CAPITAL SOUNDS:
The Art of Expression

Ignác František Mára

Cello concerto in C Major

Christoph Schaffrath

Harpsichord concerto in C Minor

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Markus Heinrich Grauel

Viola concerto in C Major

Carl Heinrich Hermann Benda

Viola concerto in F Major

Johann Gottlieb Graun

Viola concerto in E-flat Major

Listen

The Berlin Album
Ensemble Diderot

“The Berlin Album”, the fourth volume in our cities series features a programme of trio sonatas, including the first recording of Graun’s Sanguineus and Melancholicus. The album has been met with universal critical acclaim and received the International Classical Music Award in the category “Baroque instrumental”.

C.F.C. Fasch
Philippe Grisvard

Ensemble Diderot’s keyboard player Philippe Grisvard explores Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, the harpsichordist at the Prussian court next to CPE Bach on a new solo album of world-premiere recordings that make it possible to rediscover an original and visionary composer, neglected by musicians and underestimated by musicologists.

Cello concertos from Northern Germany
Gulrim Choï & Ensemble Diderot

Faithful to the values of the ensemble, cellist Gulrim Choï looks at a facet of a repertoire that has been neglected over time. It is pre-classical music from northern Germany that she decides to highlight, through four chamber cello concertos - some of which have never been recorded before. This program aims to reveal the various attractions of a nascent aesthetic, sometimes retracing its steps, sometimes radically asserting itself.

Bach & Entourage
J. Pramsohler & P. Grisvard

Johannes Pramsohler and Philippe Grisvard break up Bach’s cycle of Six Sonatas for harpsichord and violin BWV 1014-1019 and juxtapose it with sonatas from Berlin contemporaries such as CPE Bach, Schaffrath and Graun. A triple CD packed with 15 sonatas, including 5 world premiere recordings..

Berlin Harpsichord Concertos
P. Grisvard & Ensemble Diderot

Philippe Grisvard focuses here on harpsichord concertos by composers from the court of Frederick II, continuing Ensemble Diderot’s exploration of the Berlin School. By deliberately setting aside C.P.E. Bach, he highlights lesser-known figures whose contributions to the genre are equally significant. This original programme features virtuosic works infused with the spirit of both J.S. Bach and his son.